Lost Luggage @ MindSay 
Read on for the sad and sorry ongoing saga with Delta :
Dear Delta Baggage Service Centre
In reading your e-mail replies below, I am appalled and bemused at your request for information to identify the baggage.
What considerable concerns I had at the time of writing my original e-mail on the 23rd of August are now magnified several times over with this abject demonstration of lack of focus and incompetent customer care.
Firstly during one of my 18-minute transatlantic phone calls to Atlanta Baggage Service Centre I gave a clear and concise description of the suitcase and was assured this was to be logged on the file. To enable as you state "our tracing system will search for an exact match"
Secondly if you take the trouble to reread either copy of my e-mails sent 23 August and 1st of September you will find it embodied in there.
I am resisting the temptation to have the next lines flash at you in bold neon text.
" Black Carlton hard plastic suitcase with 1 inch yellow stripe around the splitline. Our name and address is taped inside the lid on A4 paper with duct tape"
Additionally I attach a representative picture below and manufacturers description: "Carlton Airtec luggage made from virtually unbreakable Polypropylene * 3 Dial combination lock * 2 side latches * 3 Year guarantee * Corner wheels * Spring loaded handle * Size 67 x 53 x 24cm Weight 4.6Kg Capacity 60Ltr"
Thirdly on Monday I faxed you copies of your Property Loss Claim Form (the original following by UK Airmail Post) and associated supporting documentation including a full and detailed description of the missing contents with a request for confirmation of receipt by return e-mail. This surely demonstrates a complete lack of co-ordination and customer aftercare, don’t you agree?
Probably the most significant and indentifiable items in the contents are a white christening dress and shawl and shoes.... of major importance as a family heirloom I must add.
Without wishing to cloud the issues can I also point out that at the start of this saga the web based baggage check facility on your web pages was unable to process my request. More importantly the fax number listed on the Passenger Property Loss Form is unobtainable and it took me 9 minutes to get the correct number from your U.K. office. Once more a clear indictment of your departments parlous and deplorable service to your customers.
I now request you share this mail with your supervisor in the forlorn hope that as per my original e-mail request, "Someone from Delta Airlines please personally take charge of the situation to perform an earnest and comprehensive search for my wife's baggage" and that the information we have provided to date is confirmed as being entered onto the file including receipt of the PPLC form.
Sincerely
DAVE PICKUP/SUE PICKUP
CLAYTON-LE-MOORS
ACCRINGTON
LANCASHIRE
U.K.
From: "Delta, ATLResBSCMail" <ATLResBSCMail.Delta@delta.com>
To: "D dot P" <ddotp2@hotmail.com>
Subject: Pickup, Sue/AHL MANDL35147
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:49:03 -0400
>
>Dear Mrs. & Mr. Pickup,
>
>
>
>Thank you for your inquiry and please accept our most sincere
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>apology regarding not only the delayed luggage but the time it
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>has taken us to respond to your e-mail as well.
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>
>
>We regret we do not have any new information for you at this
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>time. To enhance our tracing process, please provide the
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>following descriptive information:
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>· Contents of Luggage - Please provide us with a description
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>of three or four specific items in your luggage, located toward
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>the top. (A book or anything with your name, such as medical
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>prescription). If the identification tag and destination tag has
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>come off, this information will help to identify your luggage.
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>When this data is received, we will include it in your file and
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>our tracing system will search for an exact match.
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>
>
>Again, we apologize for all the inconvenience this situation
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>has caused.
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>The Delta Baggage Service Center/AD
>
>________________________________
>
>From: D dot P [mailto:ddotp2@hotmail.com]
>Sent: Fri 9/1/2006 7:59 AM
>To: ATL655, BSC
>Subject: RESENT 1/09/06 REGARDING baggage PIR MANDL 35147
>
>
>
>Sirs
>
>I am writing with some considerable concerns regarding ny wifes delayed and hopefully not lost luggage as per the above.
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>Inbound from New York to Manchester 13 August DL 154
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>PIR man 35109 ORIGINALLY ASSIGNED.
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>Changed to MANDL 35147.
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>All enquiries to MANCHESTER AVIANCE UK are met with what I can only describe as " polite indifference"
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>The last information we had was that some one had been sent to MANCHESTER Terminal 3 " to look for it" This has been the situation for 3 or 4 days now. The case was tracked via Madrid to Paris CDG
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>SURELY if 3 or 4 searches have been performed at Manchester without success, Paris and possibly Madrid should now be investigated. ????
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>The file has details of the suitcase which I repeat " Black Carlton hard plastic suitcase with 1 inch yellow stripe around the splitline. Our name and address is taped inside the lid on A4 paper with duct tape.
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>I ask can some one from Delta Airlines please personally take charge of the situation to perform an earnest and comprehensive search for my wife's baggage. I have little or no confidence with Aviance Manchester after my contacts with them across the last 5 days the term "polite indifference" is worth repeating yet again to describe/endorse our frustrations at our dealings with your agents.
>
>I trust Delta Airlines can bring this to a happy conclusion and look forward to your replies. And thank you in advance for your efforts.
>
>sincerely
>
>
>
>DAVE PICKUP
>
>SUE PICKUP
>
>CLAYTON-LE-MOORS
>
>ACCRINGTON
>
>LANCASHIRE >
>U.K.
>
>
(CNN) -- Air travelers might have to get used to stuffing lipstick and lotion into their luggage rather than carry it with them in the wake of a plot to destroy airliners with liquid-based explosives, security experts say.
The Transportation Security Administration issued new rules banning nearly all liquids, including beverages, lotions and hair gels, from being taken on planes after British authorities arrested at least 24 suspects in the plot.
British airlines went even further, banning all carry-on luggage except for keys, wallets, glasses and other essentials. Medications and baby formula are being allowed. (Full story)
Jamie Bowden, a former terminal manager at London's Heathrow Airport, said the new rules may be here to stay.
"I think certainly here in the U.K. and certainly in the States as well, people are now getting used to kind of a new way of travel," Bowden told CNN on Friday. "So that I think, although the airlines certainly don't want these kinds of restrictions, if they believe through government intelligence that it's much safer to fly like this, that may be a new way that people are going to have to get used to flying."
The TSA hasn't indicated how long the restrictions would remain in place but said on its Web site that "these measures will be constantly evaluated and updated as circumstances warrant."
U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, said the plot "eliminates the days of carry-on baggage," according to The Associated Press.
Nancy McKinley of the International Airline Passengers Association said the new rules are going to be a "huge adjustment," especially for business travelers.
"The challenge is going to be with the airlines on all the luggage [that] is checked and can it actually get to the destination in a reasonable amount of time once you get there -- how long do you have to wait for it and all of that," she said. (Watch how airports are getting bags through screening and to planes -- 1:47)
McKinley said some airports are urging people to arrive three hours before their flights.
"That's going to be difficult for business travelers, too. That takes a big hunk out of your day," she said.
A senior congressional source said authorities believe the plotters planned to mix a British sports drink with a gel-like substance to make an explosive that they possibly could trigger with an MP3 player or cell phone.
The components of the bomb would appear harmless until they were combined aboard the planes. (Full story)
The TSA has not banned U.S. passengers from carrying laptops, cell phones, MP3 players or BlackBerrys onto planes.
McKinley said it would "just be a nightmare" for business travelers if they did.
"If they try to take laptops and cell phones and put them into checked baggage, that creates a whole new problem," she said. "Because in the past, those type of things (were) not covered. If your luggage is lost and you have something like that in your luggage, it's not covered."
McKinley said she was confident that the restrictions eventually would be eased, once screening technology catches up with the threat.
"I mean there are studies going on right now to get more equipment, more updated equipment that can be changed out so that it doesn't become archaic, and I think that's where the focus has got to go," she said.
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, authorities banned passengers from carrying sharp objects such as knives, scissors and nail clippers. Passengers also were required to have their shoes examined after Briton Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane with a bomb hidden in his shoe.
In December, the TSA decided to allow passengers to carry scissors and small tools on board. (Full story)
Rafi Ron, former head of security at Tel Aviv, Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, said screeners should focus more on finding suspicious people than on hunting for potential terrorist tools.
"It is extremely difficult for people to disguise the fact they are under tremendous amount of stress, that they are going to kill themselves and a lot of people around them in a short amount of time, and all the other factors that effect their behavior," Ron said.
From CNN.com
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This is so outrageous. I just can't believe that this is happening... again.
I pulled myself into a sitting position, the airport chairs utterly unforgiving. Ah, yes. Auckland. Awaiting my flight to Dunedin in the morning. With just my backpack, because my luggage had once again been lost, this time simply left in Sydney for no discernable reason. Oh well, it was just all of my clothes and most of what I owned. Just everything I need.
I shook my head to clear it of the crankiness. Now wasn’t the time. People yelling in an airport at three in the morning does not often bode well for anyone. I adjusted my glasses and looked around. Everyone was staring, transfixed, at the television screen. Was everyone waiting for a flight or something…?
Then it clicked. The All Blacks were playing Ireland. The time delay. Ohhhhh.
It was going to be a very long day. Literally. With time changes, and heading back to Houston, one day was going to be stretched across forty-one hours and still retain the same date. But the day got better as it progressed, though it was still frenzied. I flew from Auckland to Dunedin later that day, took a shuttle back to 10c Moat, stuffed my few remaining belongings in a bag, ordered another shuttle, and sat down to breathe while the flat descended into full chaos. Marco, Dan, and Christa were also leaving the same day along with a couple of friends and a neighbour, headed for the north part of the South Island for weeks of tramping through forest, mountain, beach, and everything in between. Some of us would not return to 10c, and so the frantic packing was tempered with a few moments of sitting around and talking as though we’d see each other the next day and the day after that, and the one after that, though this was really goodbye.
I’ve never been good at goodbyes. Period. There simply haven’t been many times when I had to look someone in the eyes, and know that I probably will never see him or her again. So rather than tears being shed, jokes were exchanged, and 10c was as vibrant as ever in its final moments.
I was the last to leave, the flat strangely quiet while Hayley and I stood by the door waiting for my shuttle. This really was it. She and I joked a bit, avoiding acknowledgment of the end. 10b and 10a Moat were similarly quiet, as the occupants had also mostly emptied out.
And then it was time. There was a honk, and a driver strode to the door briskly, calling loudly. I picked up my bags, gave Hayley a tight hug and a few hurried words of goodbye, and walked away from Moat Street. I glanced back once, but Hayley had already disappeared from sight.
The day passed in moments that lingered, hours that flew. I claimed my luggage (though I can’t say “without incident”…grumble) upon my return to Auckland, and met up with only two other Arcadia kids, a trio of three from the original thirteen. Others had gone home early or delayed their trip, so we stuck together throughout our wait and flight, and toasted our time in New Zealand with one final glass of chardonnay, as two of us would soon relinquish our freedom and be underage once more. I chuckled quietly to myself as I glanced at the nighttime sky. I arrived in New Zealand in the early morning, and was leaving late at night. How appropriate.
In the hustle and bustle of clearing customs in LA, I lost sight of the other two Arcadians as I was accosted by a solicitor who told me that he used to go to Rice University, and played football for “Coach Ken” and he even designed and did the tattoo on his arm himself, in just under three hours, and…the tales grew taller. I rolled my eyes and walked away, knowing that I had just bungled yet another farewell.
As I waited for my flight, I wondered at the knot of anxiety growing in my stomach. What was wrong? My luggage was fine, I had all of my documents, customs had found no flaw in my belongings, yet…I looked around at the drawn faces around me in the airport terminal. Every face was a reflection of my own brooding, and I realized that this tenseness, this anxiety, this worry that I felt was just how it was to be in this place. The politeness and smiles I had received from the New Zealand staff were replaced with harassed-looking faces, half-snapped commands. I supposed then that this was my critique on American society after being away from it for so long. Many people comment on the rampant materialism and like things, but Australia and New Zealand are cut from similar molds, and so to me, there was not a major difference in that realm. The difference was in the attitudes. Even in bustling Sydney, the mood was relaxed, a sort of “Eh…whenever” feel about the place that told all who entered to just chill, everything would work out in the end. In LA, I could feel the stress, desperate to consume my newfound calm. On that final flight to Houston, I thought wearily, How can people live like this? How can people exist in such a worked-up state?
Suddenly, it was all over, and I was greeting my beautiful girlfriend and brother at the baggage claim. After all that time, some things hadn’t changed, and for a moment, for one single moment, it felt like I hadn’t left at all, like my entire experience was already a fading dream.
I walked out into the night with my companions and luggage. Back in Houston…what would it be like?
How the hell could an airline like SAA lose my luggage on the Perth to Joburg flight?
It's one direct leg, with no transfers. But yep, they lost it.
They found it the next day and it arrived in Joburg 2 days after I did - now I've got to see if they'll pay me for the clothes, undies and toiletries that I had to buy in Joburg to tide me over until my luggage arrived. I refuse to be Ms Smelly, even for a couple of days.
When you report your luggage is missing, the SAA ground staff in Joburg look at you as if you are a cockroach that needs to be squashed. Next they start blaming you and everyone else for its loss. Ok, ok - I know it's my fault that I chose to fly SAA in the first place (well QANTAS actually, but the Perth-Joburg flight is an SAA code-share). But f*ck it SAA, can't you train your ground staff in Joburg to at least smile?
Next time, I could fly Emirates via Dubai, but that's 19h30 flying time with a 4 or a 22 hour stopover in Dubai, while the direct PER-JHB flight with SAA takes 11h10 (not that a stopover in Dubai is a bad thing - oooo, my Visa card and the Gold Souk! - naughty naughty Carla) Another problem with Emirates is that the cabin staff are some of the most beautiful women that I have seen on an airline, which feeds my sense of inferiority (I think they are very nearly equal with the Singapore Airlines cabin staff, who are my benchmark for beauty and efficiency). Dammit - I want to look as good as them!
On a sadder note, I spent last night with an old girl-friend from Melbourne who now lives in Joburg. She hardly ever gets out of her apartment these days, except to go to work and then she gets picked up from her home each morning and brought home at night. She was car-jacked in Joburg a month or so ago and had an automatic weapon waved in her face. So she is very nervous and on edge. We talked and cried a lot. Joburg seems to be getting worse and not better, in spite of what the RSA Government are saying.
11:00PM:
Left House
11: 36 PM:
Arrive at Airport, Park and enter
11:49 PM:
Found DS! YAY!!!.. Sadly I found DS sans Luggage. His LUGGAGE was in Chicago still...
11:50PM:
Begin looking for Tiffie while DS goes to talk to the airline about his missing luggage, and give them a contact number and address to deliver the baggage to.
12 MIDNIGHT:
Hunt up DS again to make sure he isn't lost, return to 2nd floor to look for Tiffie....
12:30 AM:
Call Krys to ask for a description of Tiffie: Received the answer from Urky of: "She has darkish hair" followed by...just walk arouund the terminal screaming:"Tiffie Wiffie Scooter Butt!" which we both refused to do...lol
So instead...we walked around TALKING about Tiffie loudly in front of every dark ish haired female we saw that looked lost.. this was a bust
12:44 AM:
Called Krys again... told her to get her butt online and see if she can get a better description of Tiffie so we have a CLUE what we are looking for.
12:50 AM:
Receive via text message a new better description: Red Hair, chin length, HUGE tits, a little chunky, wearing black shorts, a striped shirt. Had a black carry on and red suitcase.
12:52 AM
DS and I split up to look for Tiffie, i again headed to the 2nd floor. I was taking the stairs...when I saw a lost and terrified looking girl goign down the escalator. I backtracked, walked up to her and said: "Are you Shelby?"
The relief was palpable! lol....
1:13AM
In the car in a line at the exit waiting to pay for my parking and depart
2:15 AM:
Arrive at Krys and Urky's house, drop everyone off, chit-chat for a few minutes then leave for home.
3:08 AM:
Arrive home, change clothes, Check e-mail, Blog, and get ready for bed. Log into chat to reassure everyone that the pick up went fine.
4:15AM:
Go to Bed NITE!